Controlling the energy consumption of a building, and in particular the energy consumption of an HVAC system, has been achieved through a building automation system (BAS) having software executable algorithms that incorporate numerical constant values corresponding to equipment operating characteristics. FIG. 1 shows a BAS interacting with an HVAC system in which real-time operating conditions within the HVAC system are sent to the BAS while control settings are received.
The equipment of the HVAC system may include, but is not limited to, chillers, pumps, condensers, boilers, air handlers, heaters, terminal units, etc. The values utilized by the BAS are typically programmed during installation of the HVAC system and set according to the local climate and ambient conditions. These values may be changed periodically by manually evaluating and re-programming the BAS for anticipated changes in the local climate and tenant comfort complaints.
HVAC systems in the past had been designed and installed without energy efficiency in mind. With rising energy costs and more emphasis on protecting the environment, customers are now looking to reduce energy consumption. Other inventions that deal with energy efficiency within HVAC systems take a long time to implement, require large upfront costs, require a large amount of hardware modifications to the original BAS or HVAC system, and require expertise for installation, maintenance, updates, and even customer usage. These conventional systems may require frequent updates and repairs. Customers often need extensive training to perform such updates and repairs themselves. Typically, these systems may also require unique modifications for each different HVAC system, which adds to the cost and complexity of each installation. Further, conventional BASs are generally resource limited in their ability with respect to processing, exchanging and computing data.